Jiang Ding entered the cultivation room with a backpack on his back, cradling a flower pot the size of a rice cooker in his arms.
[Spirit Gathering Flower Pot]
[Lower-grade magic tool, engraved with a first-order spirit gathering array, first-order water condensation array, and a first-order fire gathering array. A good helper for planting spiritual plants—an original product from the Li Clan artisans.]
This was a lower-grade magic tool that he had anonymously purchased on the Rongshu Net after selling a piece of fire attribute treasure material, which he planned to use to plant sword wood.
He set the flower pot down on the ground.
Jiang Ding opened his backpack and took out two bags of nutrient spiritual soil specialized for planting spiritual plants and poured them onto the ground; he then took out a small bag of iron filings he had made and evenly mixed them into the nutrient spiritual soil.
A little trick of planting, adding an appropriate amount of pure iron powder when planting golden attribute spiritual plants can promote their growth.
After thoroughly mixing, Jiang Ding transferred all the nutrient spiritual soil into the Spirit Gathering Flower Pot, even sweeping up the thin layer of fine soil on the ground with his inner energy.
Upon infusing inner energy, the first-order water condensation array within the flower pot automatically operated, drawing massive amounts of water from the air and automatically stopping when reaching the preset soil moisture level for the golden attribute spiritual plants.
Not only that, this specially engraved first-order water condensation array could also maintain the soil moisture at a value set by the owner; it would draw water if too moist and supply water if too dry.
If the spiritual plants exhibited any major abnormalities, the flower pot would emit a red light as an alarm.
The first-order fire gathering array was there to maintain a constant temperature for the soil in the flower pot, which was now set to 322 degrees Celsius, the most favored temperature by the majority of golden attribute spiritual plants.
Extremely intelligent.
"Next is to fuse the seed with the Talisman Sword."
Jiang Ding reviewed the content about wooden swords word by word in his mind from "Great Sun Sword Cultivation Method (Jiang Ding's Edition)" Volume Two. Once he was sure, he took out a light blue gemstone from his pocket.
[Name: Cilan Wood Seed]
[An evergreen shrub, 0.5-2.5 meters tall, irregularly and densely branched; branches are fleshy, thick, young branches are grayish yellow, branching short and dense. Leaves are alternate, with light blue streaks, absorbing sunlight during the day to store energy, and releasing blue luminescent light at night...
Functions: Contains a fairly abundant amount of the newly-discovered material "Blue-Gold 2413", whose functions may be related to this new component...]
This water-drop-shaped gem was actually a Cilan Wood Seed, originating from the same source as the Blue-Gold Potion. Compared to other spiritual plant seeds that needed to be found separately, it was highly compatible with the Talisman Sword, and was expected to greatly enhance the sharpness of the flying sword once refined into wooden swords.
"Array Spirit, request to open the skylight."
The skylight above his head slowly opened, and at noon, the splendid golden sunlight shone straight down, attracted by the floating Talisman Sword, gathering a massive amount of light, shining dazzlingly bright.
The temperature around gradually rose, becoming oppressively hot.
Without any pause, Jiang Ding continued to activate the Great Sun Gathering Spirit Formation within the Talisman Sword, accumulating more of the Great Sun Essence.
Gradually, one could clearly see the body of the Talisman Sword turning red-hot, indistinguishable from an iron bar in a furnace, with temperatures exceeding three thousand degrees Celsius, nearing the melting point of tungsten.
Waves of scorching pain filled his mind as the Talisman Sword conveyed emotions of fear; array patterns began melting at thousands of degrees, a sign of impending destruction of the sword body.
Unfazed, Jiang Ding drove the Great Sun Gathering Spirit Formation even more fiercely, absorbing the Great Sun Essence around him, further increasing the temperature of the sword body.
Three thousand, four thousand, five thousand degrees Celsius!
At this temperature, one could see that parts of the sword body had liquefied. Looking from the outside in, one could clearly see the intricate and dense array patterns trembling non-stop under the protection of inner energy, with rare instances where the array patterns and the liquid became completely fused.
Inner energy surged out wildly, consumed copiously every moment to protect the relatively fragile array patterns.
"Temperature, continue to rise!"
Jiang Ding's forehead beaded with sweat, yet he remained calm as he spoke.
He drove the Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array within the Talisman Sword even more frantically, gathering more Great Sun Essence to raise the temperature, causing even the sunlight a few meters outside the Cultivation Room to dim slightly.
The Talisman Sword had completely turned into liquid!
Still unsatisfied, he continued to drive the Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array to absorb more Great Sun Essence.
Five thousand five hundred degrees Celsius, five thousand seven hundred degrees Celsius, five thousand nine hundred degrees Celsius!
The higher the temperature rose, the greater the surge of Inner Energy needed to flow into the Talisman Sword. The First-order Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array creaked under the strain, as if it would collapse completely in the next second.
"It can hold for another seven seconds."
Jiang Ding's forehead was increasingly wet with sweat, his eyes remarkably calm, as he had familiar and precise control over his beloved Flying Sword.
Six thousand degrees Celsius!
Finally, reaching a critical point, the Talisman Sword even shifted from glowing red to searing white, causing visible transparent distortions to ripple through the air.
It was as if a chaotic explosion had occurred in his mind. First-order Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array, First-order Special Sharp Gold Array, First-order Levitation Array, First-order Flight Array—patterns of four Arrays twisted and deformed, intertwining with each other within the Talisman Sword that had completely liquefied, blurring the distinction between them and becoming one.
Wisps of light blue smoke rose. This was many of the bamboo and wood fibers in the body of the Talisman Sword unable to withstand such high temperatures, sublimating into strands of smoke, reducing the sword's body further in size.
Jiang Ding exhaled lightly, manipulating the metallic liquid into a sphere. The Talisman Sword, with its clear Array Patterns, descended and landed on the Cilan Spirit Tree seed, which was protected by layers of Inner Energy.
More light blue smoke rose. Even the Golden Attribute Spiritual Plant suffered significant damage under such high temperatures.
But Jiang Ding wasn't worried. After multiple tests and simulations, the Cilan Spirit Tree seed could completely withstand this high temperature.
Once the seed had slightly adjusted,
he willed the Talisman Sword to transform into blazing hot threads of Array Patterns, seeping into the skin of the seed. Some peripheral Array Patterns spread to various locations, while central Array Patterns penetrated the endosperm, and the most core Array Patterns fused into the seed embryo.
The Talisman Sword had initially fused with the Spirit Seed.
Jiang Ding's expression turned solemn as he still maintained the Inner Energy barrier protecting both the Talisman Sword and the Spirit Seed.
As the temperature of the Talisman Sword's Array Patterns gradually decreased, and when it reached the Cilan Spirit Tree seed's favorite temperature of around 300 degrees Celsius, only then did he remove the protective Inner Energy barrier between the two.
Jiang Ding picked up the Spirit Seed, observing it closely.
It still looked like a pale blue gem the size of a fist, but now the gem bore intricate golden patterns and lines that extended from the surface to the very core of the seed embryo.
Now, the two elements were merely 'grafted' together and could not yet be considered a whole.
He carefully dug a small hole to plant the Spirit Seed in the Spirit Gathering Flower Pot, covering it with thick spiritual soil. Inner Energy surged into the bottom of the pot, activating the First-order Water Condensation Array and the First-order Fire Gathering Array, which emitted steam at around 322 degrees Celsius, gradually soaking all the Nutrient Spiritual Soil until drops of water fell onto the floor of the Cultivation Room.
His connection to the Spirit Seed grew weaker and weaker, until only an undetectably faint link remained, enough to confirm its survival.
However, Jiang Ding wasn't worried. This was a normal phenomenon, as the Spirit Seed was now stabilizing preliminarily, conserving energy and nutrients for the subsequent germination and breaking through the soil.
"Half a month, it should sprout in fifteen days..."
Mentally calculating the time, he resolved not to leave or do anything without his Flying Sword.